Here is the current wiring of my jazzmaster style guitar, Just wondering when it comes to what would have been the rhythm circuit, what would I need to add to the two top DPDT switches to make them become low pass and high pass switches. Also if I was to activate both at the same time, how would they interact with each other?

 

The wiring diagram is rather inconvenient to understand the circuit, especially the colors that are hard to follow.

The standard arrangement was undoubtedly arrived at by considering the applications. I can see that a "Rhythm" selection would tend to boost the bass end of the spectrum but not the harmonics. So others with much more insight will need to comment on that aspect. It is quite likely that the major producers of the better guitars had a good idea as to what the skilled guitar players wanted, and si I would be reluctant to make major changes unless I understood what the actual results would be.

 

Are those unknown rectangles something you came up with? So called black boxes are hard to know when there is nothing to explain them. The usual thing is to use the neck pickup for rhythm and the bridge for lead. It's all about the string vibrations for each pickup.

https://www.fender.com/articles/instruments/demystifying-the-jazzmaster-controls

 

Those "black Boxes" are graphic representations of the magnetic pickups on the guitar. And they are a fair representation. of just what the pickups actually look like.

 

Here is the current wiring of my jazzmaster style guitar, Just wondering when it comes to what would have been the rhythm circuit, what would I need to add to the two top DPDT switches to make them become low pass and high pass switches. Also if I was to activate both at the same time, how would they interact with each other?

Sorry I haven‘t gotten back to you with a diagram. I was traveling, and I am having a bit of trouble generalizing the diagram. It depends on what you are going to choose for the switches, and that makes everything messy.

Please excuse the poor routing, I am trying to use a tool I am not yet familiar with, but here is what I have so far:

​

 

Those "black Boxes" are graphic representations of the magnetic pickups on the guitar. And they are a fair representation. of just what the pickups actually look like.

Hate to say this but your wrong. The diagram definitely shows the pickups separately. See the two box shapes with *P90* in them? P90 is a commonly used guitar pickup.

 

Unfortunately I did not get the owners manual with my used Stratocaster or I could relate to the 5 position switch versus the frequency response, and which pickups are connected. And I have not played it recently so It is not fresh in my mind.
But there is more to the sound control than just hi pass and low pass, or else there would not be multiple pickups positioned like they are positioned.

OK, I was saying that those two P90 boxes were the pickups. It was totally obvious to me that the other boxes were rear views of the slide switches. (or possibly toggle switches??) That part was so obvious that I presumed everybody understood it. Evidently that was not the case.

 

Sorry I haven‘t gotten back to you with a diagram. I was traveling, and I am having a bit of trouble generalizing the diagram. It depends on what you are going to choose for the switches, and that makes everything messy.

Please excuse the poor routing, I am trying to use a tool I am not yet familiar with, but here is what I have so far:

View attachment 297851​

No need to apologize. I guess my question would be, where exactly would I put the caps and/or resistors to actually create a difference in tone?

 

Unfortunately I did not get the owners manual with my used Stratocaster

Unless you have a newer or modified Strat it didn't come with P90's, it has single coil pickups.

 

I have not opened it up to see any of the wiring. Nor have I investigated how "hum bucking" pickups actually work. I know how hum bucking dynamic mics work, so I am guessing that it is a similar scheme. My Stratocaster has two pickups, about three inches between them. No numbers showing on the outside.

 

No numbers showing on the outside.

The shape tells you everything. Just a quick Google will show you too.

 

Let me know if you happen to finish this, I still have

Sorry I haven‘t gotten back to you with a diagram. I was traveling, and I am having a bit of trouble generalizing the diagram. It depends on what you are going to choose for the switches, and that makes everything messy.

Please excuse the poor routing, I am trying to use a tool I am not yet familiar with, but here is what I have so far:

View attachment 297851​

Let me know when you get a chance to finish this, I still havent found a solution.

 

An apology here: I have no clue as to which pickup is the Rhythm pickup. Just because I have a good guitar does not mean that I am a musical expert. Very few are masters of everything, especially music, which requires a lot of talent.

I know that there is a difference in what is sensed at the different locations of the pickups, otherwise there would be no reason for the expense of having two or three of them. And it must be related to the distance from the bridge. Probably an analysis of the string vibration patterns would explain things, But that is probably not a simple analysis. Or maybe it is???

 

Let me know if you happen to finish this, I still have

Let me know when you get a chance to finish this, I still havent found a solution.

Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Maybe this will help:

In the blocks marked "tone option" and "volume option" you will need a resistor to sub for the potentiometer. A cool way to do it, if you can fit it, would be with trimmers of the same value as the original pot. Then you could empirically adjust for the sound you want and just leave the (small, screwdriver adjustable) trimmer in buttoned up inside the guitar.

What is left off the wiring diagram I provided is the capacitor that is across the pot. If you follow the original wiring diagram for each block on the switch, you can maybe see how you would be selecting a different version of the knob's settings for each position.

The only other important omission is the lack of a connection to the second position on the top half of the rhythm switch. That would be just like the existing rhythm switch circuit. The trick to solving this on your own will be tracing the circuit, literally by pointing at a wire on the picture with a pen or something else and following it as it passes through from pickup, through the tone and volume, to the output.

Take each part as its own little system, don't try to see the whole thing at once. You will be able to wire it up this way, I feel certain. Questions on particular paths are surely welcome, and any confusion about specific connections can easily be cleared up.

Do this systematically, draw your own wiring diagram "as built" as you go along, and don't allow the work to become a rat's nest of untraceable connections. I am sure if you take this a part at a time you can manage it.

As an explanation on my lack of delivery of this diagram... First I apologize for it. I feel badly that I haven't been able to provide it yet. The reason is that I don't have any particular facility with electronics CAD software, my career allowing me to count on others for that. I am struggling with the program I started using because it is a free, browser-based offering from Digikey. It's very good, but not so happy with my browser(s) running under MacOS.

I really need to change to something like Kicad, but I seem to have no choice but to use Windows, which I can do, but it means using a computer that is only around because sometimes I have to use Windows. It's a Microsoft Surface and despite being a fast, dual core i7, it struggles and loudly blows hot air, and isn't too much fun. But, I really need to do something so maybe we will both come out ahead if I can get the motivation to either face the MS Hot Air Station or find an alternative that is happy with MacOS.

Again, I am sorry that my ignorance of schematic capture tools is having an adverse effect on you, but I am trying to help, however poorly.

[edited to add the omitted word "need" in the second paragraph]

 

Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Maybe this will help:

In the blocks marked "tone option" and "volume option" you will a resistor to sub for the potentiometer. A cool way to do it, if you can fit it, would be with trimmers of the same value as the original pot. Then you could empirically adjust for the sound you want and just leave the (small, screwdriver adjustable) trimmer in buttoned up inside the guitar.

What is left off the wiring diagram I provided is the capacitor that is across the pot. If you follow the original wiring diagram for each block on the switch, you can maybe see how you would be selecting a different version of the knob's settings for each position.

The only other important omission is the lack of a connection to the second position on the top half of the rhythm switch. That would be just like the existing rhythm switch circuit. The trick to solving this on your own will be tracing the circuit, literally by pointing at a wire on the picture with a pen or something else and following it as it passes through from pickup, through the tone and volume, to the output.

Take each part as its own little system, don't try to see the whole thing at once. You will be able to wire it up this way, I feel certain. Questions on particular paths are surely welcome, and any confusion about specific connections can easily be cleared up.

Do this systematically, draw your own wiring diagram "as built" as you go along, and don't allow the work to become a rat's nest of untraceable connections. I am sure if you take this a part at a time you can manage it.

As an explanation on my lack of delivery of this diagram... First I apologize for it. I feel badly that I haven't been able to provide it yet. The reason is that I don't have any particular facility with electronics CAD software, my career allowing me to count on others for that. I am struggling with the program I started using because it is a free, browser-based offering from Digikey. It's very good, but not so happy with my browser(s) running under MacOS.

I really need to change to something like Kicad, but I seem to have no choice but to use Windows, which I can do, but it means using a computer that is only around because sometimes I have to use Windows. It's a Microsoft Surface and despite being a fast, dual core i7, it struggles and loudly blows hot air, and isn't too much fun. But, I really need to do something so maybe we will both come out ahead if I can get the motivation to either face the MS Hot Air Station or find an alternative that is happy with MacOS.

Again, I am sorry that my ignorance of schematic capture tools is having an adverse effect on you, but I am trying to help, however poorly.

Thanks heaps for the information, I'm still struggling to follow and.im sure thats not cause of your explanation but my lack of knowledge and how new I am to this. I think maybe it would help if it was fully drawn up. I assume when you say that the resistor would substitute the pot, it's not this simple in terms of the placement of components?

 

Thanks heaps for the information, I'm still struggling to follow and.im sure thats not cause of your explanation but my lack of knowledge and how new I am to this. I think maybe it would help if it was fully drawn up. I assume when you say that the resistor would substitute the pot, it's not this simple in terms of the placement of components?

A qualified "yes, it is that simple" because it looks like you've got it right but without more context I can't be certain. In the end it is actually very simple. Again, I'm sorry I am less helpful than I would like to be,

 

To get specific values for the capacitors it would be useful to know what frequency response the TS wants from those filters.
Many times the design process is simpler if the requirements are known. At least, that has been my experience, even on this forum.
Perhaps I will need to dig out an amplifier and re-learn what the switches and knobs on that old Stratocaster do. It has been a while.

 

An apology here: I have no clue as to which pickup is the Rhythm pickup.

The pickup closest to the neck is considered the rhythm pickup. Due to the deeper vibrations from both sides of the strings, because at that point you have vibrating string length from each side of the pickup.